iPad

Originally Posted by TRINI

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I'm being pedantic but the Apple can't cannabilize these products with the iPad as they're not Apple products.

I'm with you on everything else.

My biggest debate is not whether to get one but when. I didn't buy the first iPhone but ended up w/ the 3G. Now that I know what to expect, I'm happy to wait a year for them to work out any kinks.



The 3g is supposedly coming out a month after the wifi version. My plan is to get a 32 3G and then when the price eventually drops/the Ipad gets upgraded, give the 32 to my kid and buy a cheaper/upgraded 64.

What is the best competitor to the iPad?

You are ok with the ipod and the iphone not having removeable batteries but on the ipad it's an issue? You want a webcam for what exactly? although i don't think it will be hard to add, I don't imagine laying on a sofa and holding a tablet in front of my face to use ichat like when one sits in front of their computer and chats. And I'm still not envisioning what it is that you want to attach via usb to this - it is made for portability, not to be tethered to multiple devices. I don't know enough about LCD/e-ink but I have a feeling most on here don't so I'm just not buying that the wholesale partnerships with large numbers of publishers and newspapers would have occured if it wasn't on a device that could be read well. Yeah I think I would have liked the handwriting, but every time I try to imagine it, I just can't. I have difficulty signing for ups packages given the screen response so I can't imagine writing using something like that - plus that would be a major niche market of just students. And I'm not sure why that niche should or would want to pay that much money instead of using a pen and paper for a couple of dollars. I would say this has very good partnerships with media companies. And google doesn't do journalism, it links to other news sources. NYTimes investigates. There is a very big difference between the two and newspapers are now understanding that they can't give away their material for free anymore. It was great while it lasted for me who didn't have to pay, but I understand that if I want the quality I have to pay and if I don't pay I will be driving them out of business. I personally am not sure the ipod and the iphone were really revolutionary. But the fact that apple figured a way to tie the itunes and app store so well into a product and offer an integrated suite - that was revolutionary. And so you'll now have Apple providing an integrated platform that gives you everything from music to videos to books to newspapers to video games - no other company does that; I'd say it's pretty damn revolutionary.

Originally Posted by holymadness

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I would like to have seen: - everything that is missing: removable battery, webcam, USB ports, kickstand, flash support, multitasking, etc. - dual LCD/e-ink display for use during e-book reading - handwriting input and recognition program à la Microsoft OneNote, especially for use with college textbooks (the current major disadvantage of ebook readers for the educational market is that note taking is impossible) - better integration with media partnerships for downloading tv shows, movies, and magazines. I am not convinced that this is going to 'save the print media' until I see what NYT et. al. come up with to convince people to start paying for content instead of grabbing it from google news. - lower price. $630 (and let's face it, 3G is essential) for a gadget that duplicates a LOT of the features of existing things that I already own is not going to fly. Much less for $850. The iPod was revolutionary because it gave us 64GB of storage space when everyone else was offering 500MB. The iPhone was revolutionary for the obvious reasons (touchscreen, accelerometer, GPS, etc.), as was the App Store. The iPad is just what already exists but slightly better. iBook is just a more expensive version of what Amazon is already doing. There are distinct disadvantages to Apple's approach to computing which have already been discussed above. This all makes for an underwhelming experience. I admit that it's a bit of sour grapes because essentially I'm complaining about something that I admit is a good product, but I just wish it were more. Especially when Steve starts saying things like "this is the most important thing I've ever done."

Originally Posted by dv3

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What is the best competitor to the iPad?

I don't think there is one. As you can see from this thread, this is a new type of device. It's not a phone, it's not a netbook. Apple has introduced a new kind of product.

I think they invented something similar a while back, only infinitely more capable, it was called a laptop.

Originally Posted by edmorel

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The 3g is supposedly coming out a month after the wifi version. My plan is to get a 32 3G and then when the price eventually drops/the Ipad gets upgraded, give the 32 to my kid and buy a cheaper/upgraded 64.

Nah - i meant, I'm going to hold out until round 2 of this thing comes out next year.

Originally Posted by holymadness

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This is a virtue, but I'm not sure that it's a desirable trend for computing in general. I am all for ease of access and usability, but not at the cost of restricting myself to a very narrow range of functions. At what point do we let companies like Apple set the limits of what we use technology for? ... What's interesting is that given this improvement, the relatively low cost of the baseline model, and the $30/mo. fee without contract for unlimited 3G, why would you need both an iPhone and an iPad? It seems very redundant and I wonder if Apple won't cannibalize its own market with its newest offering, especially since the iPad also relies on the App Store for software. In any case, the most salient thing anyone has said in this thread is: don't be an early adopter. You will only end up getting screwed, both price- and feature-wise.
On point one: the iPad doesn't change market demand--it simply addresses unfilled demand (tech-confused people). The iPad will hurt troubleshooters like Geek Squad, but customizable desktops/servers are going nowhere. On point two: the iPad can't cannibalize iPhone sales b/c it's a.) not a phone, and b.) not portable. It can't cannibalize laptop sales b/c it's not a full computer. The iPad is a luxury item for a frequent traveler or someone who isn't good with tech. So I don't think that's a concern.

Also, if this had a webcam or a dual-format display it'd cost near $1k. And at that price Apple sells none of them.

Why is everyone obsessed with cameras? If you're so obsessed, you probably already have a crappy one on your phone. Do you need another crappy one on a highly portable computer?

"Hey, look ma! I'm in a subway!"..."Hey girl, watchu doin, I'm sittin on a park bench, let's video chat"...cool...not

Completely unecessary

Also, if this had a webcam or a dual-format display it'd cost near $1k. And at that price Apple sells none of them.

Originally Posted by breakz

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b.) not portable

GQ disagrees.

Speculation around a hinged case to hook two ipads together like the OLPC XO-2

I think what would make this better is if it were smaller so I could fit it into a pocket. Also, if I could talk on it.

Originally Posted by TRINI

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GQ disagrees.

These people have nominated Burkman Bros. for best new designer of the year. Dunno if their opinion is really valid...

I thought this was supposed to have a Leopard OS. PC tablet is infinitely better.

Originally Posted by breakz

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Who in here has worked in tech support? I'm sure there's more than a few people, right? Well, do you know the guy who couldn't move files from one folder to another? Or someone who struggled to upload photos to his laptop? Or the older lady who didn't understand why she wasn't receiving email? These are the people who will buy the iPad: the consumer who has no damn clue about computers. The whole collection of computing metaphors ("file-and-folder" and "desktop" and "clipboard") don't make sense to these people. The iPhone UI does away with these metaphors, and they're betting people will buy as a result. If you're saying this thing will flop, you should consider the big picture. Just a thought.
This. This is what makes the iPad (and iPhone and iPod touch) different from every other computer on the market, desktop, laptop, or netbook. Here's the best analogy I've read so far:

Used to be that to drive a car, you, the driver, needed to operate a clutch pedal and gear shifter and manually change gears for the transmission as you accelerated and decelerated. Then came the automatic transmission. With an automatic, the transmission is entirely abstracted away. The clutch is gone. To go faster, you just press harder on the gas pedal. That’s where Apple is taking computing. A car with an automatic transmission still shifts gears; the driver just doesn’t need to know about it. A computer running iPhone OS still has a hierarchical file system; the user just never sees it. That’s not to say there aren’t trade-offs involved. Car enthusiasts (and genuine experts like race car drivers) still drive cars with manual transmissions. They offer more control; they’re more efficient. But the vast majority of cars sold today are automatics. So too it’ll be with computers. Eventually, the vast majority will be like the iPad in terms of the degree to which the underlying computer is abstracted away. Manual computers, like the Mac and Windows PCs, will slowly shift from the standard to the niche, something of interest only to experts and enthusiasts and developers.

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